The invention relates to a constant velocity ball joint used as an counter track joint for connection with the longitudinal shaft or axle shaft of a motor vehicle, for example.
US patent publication no. 2006/0166751 (=DE 102 48 372) discloses such an counter track joint, which has an inner hub and an outer hub and a substantially annular cage guided therebetween. Both in the inner hub and the outer hub running grooves are formed, which are associated with each other in pairs and in which balls arranged in the cage are displaceably held. The track base of the inner hub and the outer hub running grooves which are associated with each other in pairs approaches alternately from a first end of the counter track joint in the direction toward the second end and from the second end in the direction toward the first end. The inner hub comprises two elements, which are in claw-like engagement when assembled and are arranged substantially in series on the inner hub axis, such that the first element has the first inner running grooves and the second element has the second running grooves.
In this known joint, the cage is guided in the outer hub. For this purpose, the webs arranged between the outer running grooves must be configured as cage guiding surfaces. Forming the cage guiding surfaces and the outer running grooves with high precision on the inner face of the outer hub can increase production complexity in some special applications.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,672,965 (=DE 100 60 118), for example, further discloses an counter track joint in which the cage has a spherical outer face that is guided in one direction in undercut-free stop surfaces and guide surfaces of the outer joint part. The cage of this known joint also has undercut-free stop surfaces and guide surfaces in the other axial direction, which together with a spherical outer face of the inner joint part serve to guide the cage. In this known fixed counter track joint the inner joint part can be inserted into the ball cage and the ball cage together with the inner joint part can be inserted into the outer joint part, but the balls must each be manually inserted into the cage and the running groove pairs. This takes a substantial amount of time and adversely affects the cost of producing the joint.